Maybe I’m in the minority here but the last few years have taught me one thing about social media – it allows teams, agents, and players to get whatever message they want sent to the masses to benefit themselves first.
How many times have we heard “player X” could be traded? Or “team offered X to player”, or a player is looking for “X” in a contract?
I have learned that things like “Rumor Central” on ESPN are more about taking a shot in the dark than reporting news. Think about the trade deadline, you see pages and pages of “players who will be traded,” and then what happens? A small percentage get dealt, and in some cases, to a team not even listed as “Interested.”
And them bam, Cliff Lee is a Phillie and Adrian Gonzalez is a Dodger and we still do not have David Wright signed. Lee and AGone’s transactions weren’t reported well ahead of time, they were reported as the news broke. Nobody had the “source” that the Dodgers could add Adrian Gonzalez and all of Boston’s dirty laundry until the talk was completed between the teams.
Why not? Because social media has allowed “sources” to feed a story to a reporter with less evidence of fact than ever before. Teams, players, agents use this to their advantage for leverage.
Why? Because if Rick Reilly taught us anything in his recent Monday Night Football gaffe, it’s that reporters rush to Twitter because it is their chance to be “first” on the story.
We’re seeing this with David Wright right now. I’ve said about a hundred times here that I will judge when there is something to be judged. Right now, if you poll the Mets fan base, everybody has an opinion on something they do not even know if it’s factual or not.
People are rushing to judge the Mets and David Wright based on something that has not even happened yet.
The same can be said about Dickey. The story is going to start that if Wright is signed, it’s adios Dickey. Well, maybe not. Why do we need to decide that before anything happens?
Why are we so quick to make up our mind before anything happens? What hurry are we in this winter to judge on a contract before the ink touches the paper?
It’s not just David Wright either, it’s the entire hot stove season. You’ll hear Mets fans scream at the top of their lungs that the Mets are doing nothing right now. Yet, we have 4 months before any player puts on a uniform.
I’m not suggesting that the Mets will have a brilliant off-season or that the David Wright contract will fit every fans point of view perfectly.
I am suggesting that when it comes to negotiations, it’s best to draw a conclusion when something actually happens rather than rely on “reports,” with no outcome.
I promise you all, the Mets will make roster moves, David Wright and R.A. Dickey will either be a Met in 2014 or not a Met in 2014. It will play out, and when it does – you’ll have the opportunity to judge the Wilpons, Alderson, Wright, Dickey and their agents appropriately.
